Sarah Healy reflects on her 1500m showcase at the Olympics with mixed emotions, but confusion is the main one that rises to the top of the pile.
The 23 year old finished in fourth place in the repechage of the event this morning with a time of 4:07.60, which wasn’t enough to progress to the semi finals of the competition, which certainly would have been her goal given her recent form.
But what happened?
Pinpointing that in itself is a difficult task for Healy, who described her bewilderment post race.
“It was okay for the first half, I was in the right position and everything, I felt fine, I just really didn’t feel like I have what I normally have,” she explains.
“I don’t really feel like myself the last few days, something is a bit off and I’m not sure what,” she continues.
“I don’t know if it’s physical or mental. Obviously it’s a big moment and a big occasion but I’ve been feeling pretty calm. It’s just something in the race – for some reason everything just feels harder than normal.”
The two time Olympian was hoping to build on her performances from Tokyo in these Paris Games, and felt in tip top shape to do so coming into this illustrious meet.
“You almost want it to be [a physical issue] because you want to have a reason but coming into this, but I ran a PB and training has been going perfectly, I just don’t feel like I have that normal speed at the end so it’s tough,” she says.
Sarah Healy reflects on her 1500m showcase at the Olympics - Paris vs Tokyo
“The last one was different as it was Covid and I was quite young, but I wanted a more positive experience this time and it's not been great either.
“I wanted to step up from last year but that hasn't happened either. But I am prone to being a bit overly-emotional, but I need to assess it objectively and while this hasn't gone to plan I've made a big step up this year. I'm just a bit disappointed and confused.
Thankful for the ever present support of both the Irish fans and her family and friends, Healy will surely take some time now before setting about on a post-mortem to dissect where there might be room to improve.
“I'm exhausted to be honest. I just need to reset…I felt like there was more in me this year, I wanted to PB & run faster. I wanted to make a final and I had expectations and fell massively short of that,” she says.
One factor that has changed since her last Olympic outing is her switch to a full time regime, which she feels might have contributed to a reality where “it can put a bit more pressure on things.”
“I found it hard being just focused on athletics because I'm usually a balanced person,” she adds.
“I found it hard just being focused on athletics because I’ve always been a balanced person and I feel like that creates a bit more pressure. It’s what you’re doing, you’re putting everything into it and its kind of hard when it’s your whole life, which obviously it's not but it feels like that.
“Something for me to learn is to maybe be more balanced and have a bit more perspective but at the end of the day I didn’t perform here and I need to find out why.”
Her teammate, Sophie O’Sullivan also competed in the in the repechage of the 1500m this morning, acquiring a similar fate as Healy, albeit in her debut Olympics.
Meanwhile, 1500m star Ciara Mageean was forced to pull out from the race before taking to the line, announcing her withdrawal in a statement the night before the heats took place.
